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Centre for Feminist Research to study sexual misconduct and power in HE

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The Centre for Feminist Research (CFR) at Ó£ÌÒÊÓÆµ has won a £10,000 grant to fund a research project investigating sexual misconduct and abuse of power in Higher Education.

Funding was this month confirmed by the British Academy’s Research Awards Committee in the latest round of .

The award of £9,947 was granted for the project entitled “Cultures of Consent: Examining the complexity of sexual misconduct an d power within universities�.

Professor Lisa Blackman, Director of the CFR and co-head of the Department of Media and Communications, is the Principal Investigator for the project with Dr Yasmin Gunaratnam, Reader in Sociology and Co-Director of the CFR as the Co-Investigator.

The research will be undertaken by Dr Tiffany Page, post-doctoral researcher based in the CFR and co-founder of .

This study is on staff-to-student sexual misconduct in universities – the use of institutional and personal power, including grooming, sexual force, intimidation, coercion, or manipulation.

It proposes four main activities:

  • updating and archiving existing literature reviews by collaborators on staff-to-student sexual misconduct in UK universities, gathering research from international contexts and on current best practices, in an open access resource
  • inaugurating a cross-institutional network of researchers to facilitate knowledge exchange
  • developing a proposal for a themed issue of a peer-reviewed journal
  • identifying suitable methods and methodological principles for future research on the topic.

Professor Blackman said: “We are delighted that the British Academy has funded this important seed project, which will help us begin to understand some of the complex “cultures of consent� surrounding sexual misconduct in universities.

"It will build on important research that has been done by groups such as The 1752 Group and allow us to build a cross-institutional network to take this work forward across the sector.�

Work on the study is due to begin at the end of August, 2017.